Notebook: Petty makes crew chief change

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Petty Enterprises shop foreman Greg Steadman has replaced Steven Lane, who served as Kyle Petty's NASCAR Winston Cup Series crew chief since the end of the 2001 season.

	Kyle Petty will have a different crew chief this weekend at Rockingham. Credit: Autostock

The move, the latest in a merry-go-round in search of improvement at the legendary team, takes effect on the No. 45 Georgia-Pacific Dodge for the final two races of the 2003 season, including Sunday's Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at North Carolina Speedway.

Steadman had previously served as crew chief of the No. 43 and No. 44 Dodges this season at the Petty organization, which has struggled to find an upswing in performance.

While his cars have held together and finished races, Kyle Petty's last top-10 finish came 62 races ago, at Talladega Superspeedway.

"Greg has done a great job in the shop but he realizes we need him back on the road," Petty, the CEO as well as lead driver for the group, said. "As a crew chief with both the 43 and 44, he did a tremendous job, and is a great leader. We are fortunate to have him available.

"We have not been able to build on our improvement in 2002 (and) we feel Greg can help us get back on the right track."

The team made no mention of Lane's future.

Worst case for Ultra

	The No. 7 Dodge received no points for its effort in Phoenix. Credit: Autostock

Ultra Motorsports' plea for leniency in its entry blank boondoggle last week prior to the Checker Auto Parts 500 fell on deaf ears. When NASCAR's official race report was issued Monday, Jimmy Spencer's No. 7 Sirius Dodge was listed as a post entry and received no points.

Spencer, who earlier this season missed a race due to a suspension, remained in 29th in the driver standings, but owner Jim Smith, who was unavailable for a comment, fell from 28th to 30th in the owner standings.

Johnson still "Racing for Relief"

By completing all 312 laps in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Winston Cup driver Jimmie Johnson raised $14,976 for the American Red Cross' California wildfire relief efforts. That, coupled with Lowe's initial donation of $100,000 on Saturday, brings the weekend total to nearly $115,000.

	Jimmie Johnson

"As a Southern California native, this disaster hits close to home, and Racing for Relief allows me the opportunity to pitch in and lend a hand," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet and member of the American Red Cross' National Celebrity Cabinet. "I'm glad I could do my part last weekend to support the Red Cross and the people that are affected by the wildfires."

In addition to the efforts on the track, Lowe's activated an American Red Cross Customer Donation Program at 62 Lowe's stores in California and Arizona last week, allowing customers to donate money to the relief effort at the register. Lowe's will match the customer donation up $25,000.

This is the second time in six weeks that Johnson and Lowe's have supported the American Red Cross through the "Racing for Relief" program. In the September race at Dover International Speedway, Johnson drove in support of the hurricane Isabel relief effort, raising nearly $70,000 during the weekend.

Since the Racing for Relief program was introduced in April 2000, Lowe's has raised more than $341,000 to assist in relief efforts for natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and wildfires.

Two dozen teams in for pit crew championship

Twenty-four of the 25 teams eligible for the Union 76-Rockingham Pit Crew Competition have entered the event, scheduled for Saturday afternoon at North Carolina Speedway.

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Crew chief Robbie Reiser's DeWalt Ford crew is the defending champions of the event, and the Wood Brothers Racing crew is the only group that did not enter the competition, after making a crew chief change this week with Roush Racing, which entered Mark Martin's crew, led by Pat Tryson.

"I think it's important for our team to be a part of that," Evernham Motorsports driver Jeremy Mayfield said. "I know our guys are really looking forward to being in it for the first time this year (and) I know they'll go out and give it everything they've got.

"It'll be good for them to go out there and put on their show in front of everybody and let them shine. I'm just glad they're in it and glad to be a part of it."

Speed sweeps at Daytona

In a lengthy Winston Cup career that included a single victory, at Darlington Raceway, owner/driver Lake Speed had some shining moments at Daytona International Speedway, but never a victory.

But for the last two years, Speed has swept all four Historic Stock Car Racing Association (HSCRA) races at the "World Center of Racing," which are part of the Grand American Champions Weekend presented by Brumos Porsche.

Speed, who retired from NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing in 1998 after 402 career starts, led every lap of both Saturday and Sunday's HSCRA races and earned two trips to Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona.

"All the years of frustration and thinking you had a car that could win the Daytona 500 or the Pepsi 400, something would always happen," said Speed, who drove his own No. 83 Purex Ford Thunderbird. "You lead a lot of laps and not win the race (but) to be able to put something away, even though it's a different series, it's still Daytona and that makes it special."

Speed finished second to Bill Elliott in the 1985 Daytona 500.

Nowadays, Speed, 55, is a regular competitor in the HSCRA and also stays busy with church and real estate work.

"I've got three teenagers in the house, that's my full time job right there," Speed said. "There's no pressure (in HSCRA). I don't have anybody to answer to next week. I can leave (the car) in the trailer or I can take it out and go work on it. It doesn't matter."